Both students and their teachers play a crucial role in the classroom. It is a symbiotic relationship. In today's classroom, a teacher whose students' test scores plummet and grades drop will almost certainly catch flak. Administrators or parents may suggest that teacher is simply not effective in the classroom and lacks the ability to inspire students into a drive towards better understanding. On the other end of the spectrum lies the student. A student, no matter how brilliant and passionate their teacher may be, may choose on their own to reject these teachings, and to carry on into their schooling, dispassionate and unaware of the impact this will have on their future.
As in the first example given by Fried in the after school YMCA program, the kids quickly figured out how to get by with the minimum amount of work. This, and work like it that we see at a later level, is evidence of the Game of School being played. Sure, it might not be too hard to identify a teacher's system and to learn how to get by with minimum effort. I must admit, I've been guilty of it in the past. At the same time, I've encountered teachers who completely make up grades, don't read the assignments which many students work very hard on, and are extremely biased in the classroom. These are all examples of this Game being played.
In my personal high school experience, I never liked to play teachers, and I disliked when despite my initial efforts in the classroom, when teachers played me. Again, I must fess up to my own crimes. I, from time to time, took the easy way out, having charted my teacher's expectations through and through, took the easy way out. Whether that be cutting corners on a paper or other assignment, or in some cases, not turning an assignment in, I'm not proud of it. In very few of my classrooms however, it was very, very evident to everyone present that we were being played, and that we in turn were okay to play right back.
Now that I'm here at URI, I'm determined to avoid these behaviors. I believe when I've committed these academic sins in the past, they were in part spurred on by teachers who clearly did not care all that much. Even if I was to encounter such behaviors here, I'm determined not to look back, and to continue to persevere in the classroom and always do my best. To improve schools in the future, students need to understand at an early age that an education is necessary in today's world, and that despite how boring some parts of it may be, paying attention and applying yourself in school is a matter of huge importance. Students going into high school need to understand that they can determine so much of their future in the next four years and that while they may be able to play the Game in many situations, this will not benefit them in the long run. At the same time, we need to fill every classroom with educators who truly care about these kids. There must be effort on both sides, but as teachers encounter students who just seem to not care, they may become staid and less passionate in their role. I don't know how that can be fixed, but that a teacher's visible effort and care in the classroom has such a huge impact on kids needs to be something that students understand as well.
As in the first example given by Fried in the after school YMCA program, the kids quickly figured out how to get by with the minimum amount of work. This, and work like it that we see at a later level, is evidence of the Game of School being played. Sure, it might not be too hard to identify a teacher's system and to learn how to get by with minimum effort. I must admit, I've been guilty of it in the past. At the same time, I've encountered teachers who completely make up grades, don't read the assignments which many students work very hard on, and are extremely biased in the classroom. These are all examples of this Game being played.
In my personal high school experience, I never liked to play teachers, and I disliked when despite my initial efforts in the classroom, when teachers played me. Again, I must fess up to my own crimes. I, from time to time, took the easy way out, having charted my teacher's expectations through and through, took the easy way out. Whether that be cutting corners on a paper or other assignment, or in some cases, not turning an assignment in, I'm not proud of it. In very few of my classrooms however, it was very, very evident to everyone present that we were being played, and that we in turn were okay to play right back.
Now that I'm here at URI, I'm determined to avoid these behaviors. I believe when I've committed these academic sins in the past, they were in part spurred on by teachers who clearly did not care all that much. Even if I was to encounter such behaviors here, I'm determined not to look back, and to continue to persevere in the classroom and always do my best. To improve schools in the future, students need to understand at an early age that an education is necessary in today's world, and that despite how boring some parts of it may be, paying attention and applying yourself in school is a matter of huge importance. Students going into high school need to understand that they can determine so much of their future in the next four years and that while they may be able to play the Game in many situations, this will not benefit them in the long run. At the same time, we need to fill every classroom with educators who truly care about these kids. There must be effort on both sides, but as teachers encounter students who just seem to not care, they may become staid and less passionate in their role. I don't know how that can be fixed, but that a teacher's visible effort and care in the classroom has such a huge impact on kids needs to be something that students understand as well.